By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 moved cautiously
higher on Wednesday, as investors digested minutes from the Bank of
England and shares of GlaxoSmithKline PLC jumped after a
well-received earnings report.
The benchmark index added 0.2% to 6,387.77 in choppy trade,
after rallying 1.7% on Tuesday.
The Bank of England said seven of the nine members of its
Monetary Policy Committee voted in favor of keeping rates at a
record low at its October meeting, which was widely expected. The
minutes also showed that the BOE officials expressed concerns about
the U.K.'s economic prospects in October, citing increasing
headwinds from overseas and a slowdown at home.
"With the near-term risks to growth and inflation on the
downside, we now expect the BOE to [keep rates] on hold until June
next year," said Rob Wood, chief U.K. economist at Berenberg, in a
note.
Among stocks on the move in London, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
climbed 3.1% after the drug maker reported third-quarter earnings
that beat analysts' expectations. The company also says it expects
to have the first doses of its Ebola vaccine ready late this
year.
Shares of ARM Holdings PLC (ARMHY) climbed 1.7% after UBS lifted
the chip maker to buy from neutral.
On a more downbeat note, shares of British American Tobacco PLC
slumped 3.6% after the company reported a drop in nine-month
revenue, hit by a slow economic recovery in Western Europe.
Mining firms were also dropping, tracking most metals lower.
Shares of Fresnillo PLC dropped 2.8%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) fell 1.2%
and Randgold Resources Ltd. lost 1.9%.
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